US House transport chair seeks EV fees for highway funding

The Journal Record By: David Shepardson, Reuters March 17, 2026

The chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee wants to collect funds from electric vehicles to help pay for U.S. highway repairs as part of a surface transportation bill.

Representative Sam Graves, a Republican, said he plans to take up a multi-year bill in early April. Last year, House Republicans proposed a new $250 annual fee on EVs and $100 for hybrid EVs but it was not included in a massive tax and spending bill. The current five-year surface transportation law expires on September 30.

“We would like to get money from EVs,” Graves said at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce infrastructure event, saying he expects the five-year bill to include $500 billion to $550 billion in funding for highways and bridges.

Some states charge fees for EVs to cover road repair costs. Congress for the past three decades has opted not to hike fuel taxes to pay for rising road repair costs. Some Republican senators in February 2025 proposed a $1,000 tax on EVs for road repair costs.

Most revenue for federally funded road repairs is collected through diesel and gasoline taxes, which EVs do not pay.

View the full article: JournalRecord.com